COLETTE and the publication of her essay The Pure and the Impure.

Sidonie Gabrielle Colette , known as COLETTE (1873.1954)

Autograph letter signed to Hélène Berthelot.

Two pages in-8° on paper with embroidered motifs. Slnd [January 1932]

Charming collage of a little butterfly at the top.

« The director of Gringoire has just interrupted my soap opera… »

Colette comments with detachment on the arbitrary interruption of the publication of her work Le pur et l'impur .

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“Dear Hélène, happy new year to you both. How pretty this paper is! Do you know that we don't even find them at the Santons fair anymore? The cat says a new word: “meringue” which she pronounces “me-raing!” ". Pour this precious document into Philippe's ear and ask him what to think of it.

The director of Gringoire has just interrupted my serial in the middle of a sentence because, he says, his “general public is disappointed. » He still had five serials before the end. As I know that you are not insensitive to humor, I will tell you about it, and kiss you both tenderly. Your Colette. »

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The Pure and the Impure was initially published, as a serial, in the weekly Gringoire from December 4, 1931 to January 1, 1932, the date on which publication was suspended (subject of this letter) under pressure from readers scandalized by the character immoral of the work.

Colette wanted to provide, with this essay, a free reflection on the pleasures of love, jealousy, homosexuality, enjoyment and the nuances of desire between men and women. Iconoclast and avant-garde, the writer did not fail to confuse Gringoire's readers.

The work was then published in volume under the title Ces Plaisirs , by Éditions Ferenczi in 1932. The definitively retained title Le pur et l'impur is that of an expanded version, published by Armes de France in 1941.

Colette, regularly severe towards her work, had a deep esteem for this work: “One day we will perhaps realize that this is my best book. »